In defense of Management Science

Matthew Stewart in his essay, ‘The Management Myth’, poses a polemical question: “Why does management education exist?” He then assiduously builds the argument to prove his point that having a degree in philosophy makes a person better equipped to handle the challenges of business than an MBA would. To accentuate the impact of his proposition, he uses two examples which I believe today are of only historical significance to the field of management.

Now I have little defense to offer in support of the management theories (I am myself a bit skeptical of the methods and techniques that go into making them) but I would certainly dispute Mr. Stewart’s outright denunciation of the discipline of management studies (MS). It is one thing to challenge the assumptions made and conclusions drawn by management gurus but quite another to disparage whatever goes into making of an MBA graduate. No doubt the information deluge thrust upon B-school students does not impart a deep understanding of any one topic; but to pooh-pooh MBA education as only providing a “generic framework for problem solving…..[that] can lead you to solutions, but cannot make you think” tantamount to alleging that MBAs are pedant in blinkers at best and herders at worst.

We all know that Philosophy is the fountainhead of every branch of human knowledge. Pythagoras, Newton, J.S. Mill and William James were first and foremost philosophers and only later were they labeled as a mathematician, a physicist, an economist and a psychologist respectively. Every branch of knowledge in its infancy grows under the wings of philosophy but once it learns to stand on its own, it breaks free. The problem with MS has been that in its overzealousness it attempted to become a science at its inception: trying to challenge the limits of its boundaries without even assessing properly the subject matter and the environment it was operating in. In a way, management science has become a Don Quixote----ambitious but without definitive purpose.

But not everything that goes in the name of MS is bunkum and irrelevant. The management thinkers do try to apply scientific rigor to test their hypothesis but the predictability and reproducibility of their inferences cannot be as accurate as an experiment in the field of natural science. What Mr. Stewart lampoons as an inadequacy of MS is equally true of any other social science like sociology, psychology, political science etc.

Again, why single out MS as “capable only of soaring platitudes” and plagued by fads which surface from time to time? If the management thinkers have been rehashing the stuff propounded earlier by their predecessors, then Mr. Stewart can kindly inform me as to how many philosophers have come out ‘original’ answers to centuries’ old philosophical questions? Any student of history of philosophy would easily point out that over the centuries philosophical debates have centered on a handful of propositions; but what have changed are the context and the argument. Similarly, the moot questions with which MS started haven’t changed over the past one century; but the methodology, the analysis of these issues have definitely become rigorous over a period of time.

Yes, a management graduate would be better equipped to handle the complexities of business if she gives proportionate amount of time reading the thinkers alluded to by the author. Such an endeavor would enrich her analytical skills besides giving a better perspective of ethical imperatives. I would say that such an exercise would prove salutary for the intellectual development of students from any stream. So, why not teach philosophy to engineers, arts students and scientists too?

To sum up, I do agree with the author that MS as a discipline needs a serious reexamination and revision. It is a young branch of knowledge but has tremendous impact on society. Since it attracts some of the finest talent therefore it should assist young minds “to think” and not merely provide heuristic framework to base their action upon. Academics associated with the field of management would do a great service to their discipline, the students and to the businesses worldwide by paying heed to Mr. Stewart’s pragmatic advice.

P.S.: I received Mr. Stewart's essay from Prof. Ashish Lall, who has honed my ability to think systematically and make arguments coherently.